Four Democratic lawmakers traveled to Cuba last week to see for themselves the impact of the Trump administration's economic war on the island.
They returned with firsthand evidence of its devastating consequences, but none to support the claims used by Donald Trump and Marco Rubio to justify an oil blockade and maximum pressure sanctions.
Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández sat down with the lawmakers to discuss what they witnessed and what Congress can do to push back against the administration's policy toward Cuba. You can watch that conversation HERE.
Also this week:
Inside Cuba’s Alleged Russian Spy Base
Rubio Targets Tourism Industry and Fuel — Again
Sanctions Reportedly Leave Medical Supplies Stuck in Jamaica
Cuba Goes Dark For Fifth Time Since Blockade
Democrats to Rubio: "Show Us the Receipts"
Russian and Chinese spy bases. Hamas and Hezbollah. Terrorism. Communism.
To justify economic war on Cuba, the Trump administration is leaning on a seemingly endless list of flimsy allegations to argue that Cuba poses a threat to U.S. national security.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM), who traveled to Cuba last week with three other Democratic members of Congress, said none of the administration's accusations against Cuba have been backed up.
"For all of that long list of claims, we have seen no proof," Leger Fernández told Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández in an exclusive interview. "That's one of the things that the American people, the American media, the American Congress needs to demand."
Leger Fernández was on the verge of tears as she recounted visiting a Cuban hospital and hearing about the rise in infant mortality due to sanctions and the U.S. oil blockade.
“Why would we do that? Why would Americans support that?” she asked.
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) recalled a young Cuban engineer's message for Donald Trump: "Can you tell your president he has his foot on my neck?Either he ends my life or he pulls the foot off my neck."
Nine million people, Ramirez continued, "feel that they're being choked" by U.S. economic warfare.
Embassy Denies Lawmakers a Meeting
The U.S. embassy in Havana declined the congressional delegation's request for a meeting — a response that Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) says is not normal. Pocan visited Cuba four years ago on a congressional visit, when he held extensive meetings with U.S. embassy officials.
"I don't think they really want people to know what's going on because they're putting a false narrative out there," he said.
Asked whether Cuba poses a threat to the United States, the lawmakers' response was categorical.
"In none of the three days that we have been here have I seen that the Cuban people are a threat to the American people," Ramirez said. "What I've seen is this real desire of being in solidarity with one another."
WatchLiz’s exclusive interview with the members of Congress.
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Last week, we visited the location where The New York Timesclaims a Russian spy base "bristles with antennas," potentially spying on U.S. military bases and even Mar-a-Lago.
We went looking for Russian spies — and found Cuban students and professors instead.
Check out our latest video on the spy base that isn’t. And stay tuned for our in-depth dive into the history of Russia's former spy base and how it is being used to justify the narrative that Cuba poses a threat to U.S. national security. Coming soon!
The Trump administration sanctioned 10 more Cuban entities on Monday, including Cuba’s Tourism Ministry as well as state-owned companies involved in foreign trade and those that import fuel for Cuba’s private sector.
The move expands the list of Cuban entities targeted by Trump’s May 1 executive order, which imposed “secondary sanctions” on non-U.S. companies doing business with the Cuban entities.
Cuba's tourism was already caught in the crosshairs when military-run conglomerate GAESA, with major tourism investments, was sanctioned. By adding the Tourism Ministry, the Trump administration seems to be trying to blacklist the rest of Cuba's state-run tourism sector, a key source of revenue.
The new sanctions also further tighten Washington’s squeeze on Cuba’s fuel supply, as state-run fuel importers and distributors were added to the sanctioned list.
Meanwhile, foreign companies are fleeing Cuba both because the country is grinding to a halt without oil and for fear of being sanctioned by the Trump administration. Several foreign hotel companies have already withdrawn their operations from Cuba this year.
Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the sanctions as part of a "genocidal" campaign against the island. As in May, the administration justified the measures by calling Cuba a "national security threat" without presenting any credible evidence to back up the claim.
Sanctions Leave Medical Supplies Stuck in Jamaica
U.S. sanctions have caused a container with 3.5 million syringes and needles bound for Santiago de Cuba’s health system to be stranded in Jamaica, according to Cuban state media outlet Cubadebate.
The container, which Cubadebate said was from a solidarity organization called SODePAZ, was reportedly one of dozens stranded in Kingport, Jamaica after French shipping company CMA CGM was threatened with U.S. sanctions.
In May, the company said it would suspend bookings to and from Cuba following the Trump administration’s May 1 executive order, which threatened “secondary sanctions” on non-U.S. companies doing business with an ever-growing list of sanctioned Cuban entities.
It’s not clear if the containers were shipped before the executive order or how long they have been stranded in Jamaica.
According to Cubadebate, CMA CGM says its only options now are returning the containers to their port of origin or transferring the cargo to another shipping line, both of which would mean additional costs for the solidarity organization.
In addition to CMA CGM, German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd also suspended bookings to Cuba, citing compliance risks tied to the May 1 executive order.
Cuba Goes Dark For Fifth Time Since Blockade
Cuba was plunged into darkness again after its national electrical grid failed yesterday. The nationwide blackout was the third in the previous eight days, and the fifth since the Trump administration imposed its oil blockade in late January.
The impact is being felt acutely by the elderly. Watch our video about a 90-year-old woman and her family trying to survive endless blackouts.
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Boletines en Español | English Newsletters Archives Las mujeres y los niños han sido durante mucho tiempo una prioridad del sistema universal de salud pública de Cuba, el cual gestiona más de 130 hogares maternos gratuitos para mujeres con embarazos de alto riesgo en toda la isla. Pero los apagones provocados por el bloqueo petrolero estadounidense están dejando a médicos, enfermeras y pacientes a oscuras. Mientras la administración Trump libra una guerra económica contra Cuba, las personas...
English Newsletters Archives | Boletines en Español Women and children have long been a priority of Cuba's universal public health system, which operates more than 130 free maternity homes for women with high-risk pregnancies across the island. But blackouts caused by the U.S. oil blockade are leaving doctors, nurses and their patients in the dark. Even as the Trump administration wages economic war on Cuba, people in the United States are stepping up to help sustain the island's beleaguered...
Boletines en Español | English Newsletters Archives La administración Trump ha presentado un sinfín de justificaciones para librar una guerra económica contra Cuba. Una base de espionaje rusa. Hamás y Hezbolá. Corrupción. Violaciones de los derechos humanos. La lista continúa. Analizamos todas las razones que Donald Trump y el secretario de Estado Marco Rubio han ofrecido para justificar un cambio de régimen en Cuba, y por qué se desmoronan al ser examinadas detenidamente. También esta...
